Aaron Rodgers says his decision to play in Pittsburgh this season was ‘best for my soul’

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers doesn’t need to keep doing this. He knows that.

The four-time NFL MVP’s decision to return for a 21st season and to do it in Pittsburgh was not about trying to prove something to himself, the New York Jets or anyone else.

The game has given a lot to him. Stardom. Wealth. A title. Relationships that will last long after he decides to stop playing. The next seven months — if they are indeed the last seven months of a career that almost certainly will end with a gold jacket and a bust in the Hall of Fame — are about trying to pay it forward while finding peace in the process.